Windpower and Whales 

Will our environmental laws ensure the protection of endangered species?

Revolution Wind alone will potentially violate the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Bald and Golden Eagles Act, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, by threatening the existence of fourteen endangered species: four whale species, two turtle species, one fish species, four bird species, two eagle species, and one bat species. The Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act require agencies both to protect and to promote the recovery of the species. Since 2016, NOAA has authorized over 6340 incidental takes of whales for the offshore wind developers’ survey work along the East Coast. It has authorized or is in the process of granting permission for offshore wind developers to harm and/or harass over 700,000 marine mammals in total.

Does losing one species of whale (the North Atlantic right whale) matter in the
grand scheme of combatting climate change?

Unchecked, climate change will threaten the existence of all species, including the North Atlantic right whale. Thus, many people prioritize combatting climate change over protecting a specific species. However, because whales sequester carbon, some scientists consider whales to be nature’s solution to climate change. The loss of a single whale, let alone an entire whale species, will increase the carbon footprint of these projects. Offshore wind farms will inevitably drive threatened whale species closer to extinction. The US has designated the area planned for construction as a critical habitat for the North Atlantic right whale. With only 334 members alive today, the North Atlantic right whale faces extinction. The unusual mortality event that began in 2017 has affected 20% of the population. Deaths outpace births. The Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act require agencies both to protect and to promote the recovery of the species. Offshore wind projects violate both principles. In a democratic system, if the public no longer cares to protect endangered marine mammals, we should change the law; and we should not allow agencies, even those with good intentions, to ignore the law.

Hasn’t NOAA proven that offshore wind seismic surveys are not responsible for
the recent spate of whale deaths?

No studies have ever proven a direct link between offshore wind site characterization surveys and whale deaths. Over the past decade, ship strikes and line entanglements have killed dozens of whales. NOAA has been able to perform necropsies on roughly half of the beached whales and of those, they have found that 40% of the whales examined died from ship strikes and entanglements. The findings, however, only demonstrate that 20% of the total (40% of 50%) die from ship strikes and line entanglements. Given the small numbers and the challenges of performing necropsies on quickly decomposing whales, population- level statistics cannot be extrapolated from these findings. In contrast to the claims made by the press, 20% of the total does not represent the majority, thus something other than line entanglements and ship strikes may be harming whales off the Atlantic Coast.

Pre-construction seismic surveys and impact drilling within whale habitats coincided with the onset of unusual mortality events for three whale species: humpbacks, North Atlantic right whales, and minke whales, and continue to correlate with seismic survey activity. Seismic surveys have documented impacts on whale morbidity and mortality. Given the infrequent necropsies, a direct causal link between the high-resolution geophysical surveys and whale deaths remains unknown, however, an absence of evidence does not mean evidence of absence. The fact that NOAA authorized offshore wind companies the legal permission to “take” more than 6340 whales, 83,433 dolphins, 5,568 porpoises, and 6924 seals just for site surveys (not construction and operation) suggests that both NOAA and the companies understand the surveys will harm marine mammals.

Won’t NOAA protect marine mammals by limiting the number of “takes”
granted to the wind developers?

NOAA attempts to protect marine mammals and endangered marine species by issuing a limited number of incidental take authorizations (ITAs). These authorizations allow companies to harm or harass marine mammals incidental to their activities. Unfortunately, NOAA must evaluate ITA requests on a case-by-case basis and cannot consider other projects or conduct comprehensive programmatic reviews in their assessments. As a result, NOAA has authorized or is in the final stages of granting offshore wind companies permission to permanently or temporarily injure over 700,000 marine mammals, including over 20,000 whales and 477,039 dolphins. For instance, they have given permission to temporarily injure over 1000 individual North Atlantic right whales, even though only 334 of these critically endangered whales exist today. Current ITAs only represent take authorizations for the beginning of BOEM’s plan to industrialize the ocean. The offshore wind companies, by asking for these permissions, and NOAA, by granting them, both implicitly acknowledge that survey activity will injure marine mammals; yet publicly, both continue to deny the possibility that any connection exists.

How can site characterization seismic surveys harm marine mammals?

As stated above, no direct connection between whale deaths and seismic surveys has been established, but indirect connections may exist. Though offshore wind companies may not use the traditional airguns to collect their high-resolution geophysical maps of the seabed, they do employ high voltage, boomers (3000 V), sparkers (20-200 Hz), and multi-beam echo sounders, side scan sonars (100-500 kHz), shallow and mid penetration sub-bottom profilers, ultra-short baseline positioning equipment, and marine magnetometers. The frequencies they use could, theoretically, harm marine mammals through a process called rectified diffusion. Sound waves in the low to mid- frequency range cause gas bubbles in the bloodstream to enlarge. Large gas bubbles can cause lung damage and brain hemorrhages, much like the “bends.” This process could account for the recent spate of whale deaths in the NY and NJ area but has not been studied.

Once the seismic surveys and construction are complete, won’t the marine
mammals recover?

Construction poses the greatest risk to marine mammals, however, a NOAA scientist, Sean Hayes, wrote a letter to BOEM voicing concern that operations will harm the North Atlantic right whale for the entire lifespan of the projects. He writes, “oceanographic impacts from installed and operating turbines cannot be mitigated for the 30-year lifespan of the project” and that “Disturbance to right whale foraging could have population-level effects on an already endangered and stressed species.” The scientific consensus within NOAA agrees that wind projects will threaten the survival of the species even after the developers have completed construction. BOEM has chosen to ignore NOAA’s warning.

Green Oceans

Excerpted from the Green Oceans White Paper, which includes references, on windpower projects off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts.